PHP on Apache: The Definitive Installation Guide Page 4

Static modules are linked into the Apache server itself, and cannot be
removed without recompiling. This means that they can consume resources, such
as memory, even if not used or activated. It also means rebuilding the entire
server any time a single module is altered (such as upgrading the PHP
installation). The Apache Group now strongly encourages the use of DSOs
(dynamic shared objects) in preference to static modules because of their
flexibility. While static modules are far from deprecated, I’m including the
steps here only for completeness; Linux has no problem with dynamic
modules—use the dynamic-module method instead of the static.

In order to build mod_php for static inclusion in the Apache
server it’s necessary to jump back and forth between the Apache and PHP
directories, following a series of interdependent configuration and compilation
steps. You indicate that you’re building mod_php statically by
using the --with-apache switch on the
./php/php3/configure script invocation.

    % #
    % # Preconfigure Apache so that PHP knows where things are
    % #
    % cd ./apache-1.3
    % ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/web/apache
    % #
    % # Now configure and build PHP as a module
    % #
    % cd ../php/php3
    % rm -f config.status config.cache
    % ./configure --with-apache=../../apache-1.3 other-switches
    % make
    % make install
    % #
    % # Now *really* configure Apache, and build it
    % #
    % cd ../../apache-1.3
    % ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/web/apache 
    > --activate-module=src/modules/php3/libphp3.a
    % make
    % #
    % # Install the resulting httpd application
    % #
    % /usr/local/web/apache/bin/apachectl stop
    % cp src/httpd /usr/local/web/apache/bin
    % cd ../php/php3
    % cp php3.ini-dist /usr/local/lib/php3.ini
    % /usr/local/web/apache/bin/apachectl start

(You will probably have to execute the last five commands as

root.) 

See how complicated this is? Repeat for every PHP module rebuild. 
Building mod_php as a Dynamically Loaded Object 

To build PHP as a dynamic Apache module, build and install the Apache server

itself using the APACI method (i.e., with the

./apache-1.3/configure script). This is because the PHP

configure script needs to use one of the files that APACI

installs. 

To build PHP as a dynamic shared object (DSO), use the following sequence of

commands: 
    % cd ./php/php3/
    % rm -f config.status config.cache
    % make clean
    % ./configure --with-apxs=/usr/local/web/apache/bin/apxs other-options
    % make
    % /usr/local/web/apache/bin/apachectl stop   # shut down Apache entirely
    % make install
    % /usr/local/web/apache/bin/apachectl start  # restart Apache

When that's all done, your Apache server should be capable of handling PHP

CGI scripts and PHP-enabled Web pages. And to upgrade just PHP from a new

version, just repeat the process--without touching any other part of Apache.


For building PHP on Red Hat Linux 6.1 and using the Apache RPMs, fix

a broken file provided by them before executing the above commands. See the

"Fixing Red Hat 6.1's apxs Script" appendix in this article for the

details. 
Testing Your Installation

If you built PHP as a script interpreter, verify that it is working

correctly by creating and executing a test script such as the following: